The foot of the blade in known coating devices that employ a doctor blade as a flow-control mechanism rests on a blade beam that pivots to establish a prescribed angle (the blade angle) between the blade, the point of which rests against the web, and a tangent to the backing roller at the line of contact. The pressure of the blade against the backing roller determines the coating density and is established by resiliently deforming the blade between its foot, which is tensioned into the blade, and its point. The change in the blade angle due to the deformation must be kept as slight as possible.